Prinzipien menschlicher Kraft- und Energieerzeugung — Analytik und Gestaltung energetisch-effektorischer Arbeit

In 1985, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) convened an ad hoc committee of experts who reviewed the current literature on lifting, recommend criteria for defining lifting capacity, and in 1991 developed a revised lifting equation. Subsequently, NIOSH developed the documentation for the equation and played a prominent role in recommending methods for interpreting the results of the equation. The 1991 equation reflects new findings and provides methods for evaluating asymmetrical lifting tasks, lifts of objects with less than optimal hand-container couplings, and also provides guidelines for a larger range of work durations and lifting frequencies than the 1981 equation. This paper provides the basis for selecting the three criteria (biomechanical, physiological, and psychophysical) that were used to define the 1991 equation, and describes the derivation of the individual components (Putz-Anderson and Waters 1991). The paper also describes the lifting index (LI), an index of relative physical stress, that can be used to identify hazardous lifting tasks. Although the 1991 equation has not been fully validated, the recommended weight limits derived from the revised equation are consistent with or lower than those generally reported in the literature. NIOSH believes that the revised 1991 lifting equation is more likely than the 1981 equation to protect most workers. Show more

1. The electrical activity of up to eight concurrently active motor units has been recorded from the human deltoid and first dorsal interosseous (f.d.i.) muscles. The detected myoelectric signals have been decomposed into their constituent motor-unit action potential trains using a recently developed technique.2. Concurrently active motor unit behaviour has been examined during triangular force-varying isometric contractions reaching 40 and 80% of maximal voluntary contraction (m.v.c.). Experiments were performed on four normal subjects and three groups of highly trained performers (long-distance swimmers, powerlifters and pianists).3. Results revealed a highly ordered recruitment and decruitment scheme, based on motoneurone excitability, in both muscles and in all subject groups.4. Differences were observed between the initial (recruitment) and final (decruitment) firing rates in each muscle. These parameters were invariant with respect to the force rates studied, although some differences were observed among subject groups.5. In general, firing rates of f.d.i. motor units increased steadily with increasing force (up to 80% m.v.c.). The firing rates of deltoid motor units rose sharply just after recruitment and then increased only slightly thereafter.6. Recruitment was found to be the major mechanism for generating extra force between 40 and 80% m.v.c. in the deltoid, while rate coding played the major role in the f.d.i.7. The potential of rate coding for increasing force levels up to m.v.c. is discussed. Show more